History Audiobooks Podcasts

“Two Years in the Forbidden City” is a book written by Princess Der Ling, who was the renowned Lady-in-waiting to the Empress Dowager Cixi in the early 20th century. Though Empress Dowager Cixi is a household name, Der Ling’s point of view offers a quite unique and surprisingly intimate portrayal of the Empress and Beijing’s […]

After World War II, the “Old Right” was derailed by an interventionist group of anti-communist crusaders—and Libertarian ideas went by the wayside. Here, Murray Rothbard tells the sorry tale from the inside. Narrated by Ian Temple.

Rothbard’s posthumous masterpiece is the definitive book on the Progressives. This audiobook is made available through the generosity of Mr. Tyler Folger. Narrated by Graham Wright.

Fatal Flight brings vividly to life the year of operation of R.101, the last great British airship—a luxury liner three and a half times the length of a 747 jet, with a spacious lounge, a dining room that seated fifty, glass-walled promenade decks, and a smoking room. The British expected R.101 to spearhead a fleet […]

“More Than 36 Days” is the stories of 4 men who served as United States Marines during World War II in the battle for Iwo Jima island. It is NOT a typical war book as it focuses on the men, their backgrounds and how their war experiences defined them into the men they grew to […]

The book follows Jeffery Farnol as he visits a number of key locations around Britain and on the continent, each demonstrating how members of English society have come together to work towards the goal of “defeating the hun”. On a visit to a naval dockyard, he reports on how the ships are being constructed, takes […]

Written by William Roscoe Thayer this is one of the finer single volume biographies of Washington.

Well written and admiring biography by Hermann Hagedorn running nine hours and 42 minutes.

Rawlings follows the development of printing from the origins of writing to modern printing. Some of the earliest records are ancient Egyptian, Greek and Roman recordings on papyrus and wax tablets. However, Rawlings acknowledges the sparse nature of this first fragile evidence, and limits speculation. Later, libraries of religious books grew in Europe, where monks […]

Chronicles the life of Richard II, born in 1367 in Bordeaux, France, who later wore the crown of King of England. (Summary by Cathy Barratt)

Apollonius of Tyana (ca. 40-120 AD) was a Greek Pythagorean philosopher and teacher. He hailed from the town of Tyana in the Roman province of Cappadocia in Asia Minor. His date of birth is a matter of conjecture as some say he was roughly a contemporary of Jesus. After Apollonius’ death his name remained famous […]

Elizabeth Cady Stanton was one of the premier movers in the original women’s rights movement, along with Susan B. Anthony, her best friend for over 50 years. While Elizabeth initially stayed home with her husband and many babies and wrote the speeches, Susan went on the road to bring the message of the women’s rights […]

Capt. Robert F. Scott’s bid to be the leader of the first expedition to reach the South Pole is one of the most famous journeys of all time. What started as a scientific expedition turned out to be an unwilling race against a team lead by R. Admunsen to reach the Pole. The Norwegian flag […]

Swashbuckling tales of legendary pirates, buccaneers, and marooners, terrors of the Spanish Main.(Summary by Epistomolus)

In From the Darkness Cometh the Light, or Struggles for Freedom Delaney tells the story of how she was born into slavery of her mother–a freeborn black woman who had been kidnapped and sold on the blocks–but escaped while a teenager and eventually sued in court for her freedom. After the Civil War, Delaney spent […]

These stories detail the lives of soldiers and civilians during the American Civil War. This is the 1909 edition. The 1909 edition omits six stories from the original 1891 edition; these six stories are added to this LibriVox recording (from an undated English edition). The 1891 edition is entitled In The Midst Of Life; Tales […]

This is volume 3 chapter 15 of a series of books written by the Baron Macaulay (1800-1959) in the 19th century. It starts with a brief resume of the history of England up until the Stuart kings and then starts to delve into a little more detail. Macaulay is primarily fascinated by ending of any […]

Few stories of shipwreck and survival can equal that of the 16th century Spaniard Alvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca who, cast ashore near present day (USA) Tampa Bay, Florida, in 1528, survived eight years of hand-to-mouth existence among the Indians of the South and Southwest, and who walked on foot across the plains to the […]

Shackleton’s most famous expedition was planned to be an attempt to cross Antarctica from the Weddell Sea south of the Atlantic to the Ross Sea south of the Pacific, by way of the Pole. It set out from London on 1 August 1914 and reached the Weddell Sea on January 10, 1915, where the pack […]

Mother Jones (Mary Harris Jones) was a legendary labor organizer. She was a founding member of the International Workers of the World (the IWW, or the Wobblies), and was active in the United Mine Workers and the Socialist Party of America. (Summary by Denny)

John Jacob Astor was pre-eminently the opener of new paths, a breaker of trails. From his first tramp alone through the Black Forest of Baden, at sixteen, his life never lost this typical touch. In America, both shores of the Hudson, and the wilderness to the Northwest knew his trail. The trees of the forests […]

The Pioneers: The Sources of the Susquehanna; a Descriptive Tale is one of the Leatherstocking Tales, a series of five novels by American writer James Fenimore Cooper. The Pioneers was first of these books to be published (1823), but the period of time covered by the book (principally 1793) makes it the fourth chronologically. (The […]

Autobiography of Cole Younger, American Civil War veteran and member of the Jesse James gang. Cole Younger was a member of Quantrill’s Raiders during the Civil War and along with his brother, Jim Younger and the James brothers, robbed banks and trains during the 1870’s. (Summary by William A Crenshaw)

Book I of the “Story of the World” series. Focuses on the civilizations surrounding the Mediterranean Sea from the time of Abraham to the birth of Christ. Brief histories of the Ancient Israelites, Phoenicians, Egyptians, Scythians, Persians, Greeks, and Romans are given, concluding with the conquest of the entire Mediterranean by Rome. Important myths and […]

A handbook of Egyptian archaeology, issued by the British Museum, considered suitable for British tourists traveling to Egypt in the 19th Century. (Introduction by Timothy Ferguson)